Spruce Reach Island:
The Oregon Coast's
Secret Rhododendron Garden
The Hinsdale Estate, Dean Creek,
Near Reedsport
Part II
An Historical Perspective ofthe Hinsdale Family, their Spn/ce
Reach Islalld Property and the Devewpment ofa Partnership to
Restore a Lost RhocWdendroll Garden on the Oregoll Coast
John M. H ammond
Bury Lancashire
England
Gordon K. Wylie
C reswell, Oregon
Part I ill the Fall 2007 issue laid the historical fo ulldation
for the Hillsdale Estate garden. Part If describes the
development ofthe gardell. Part Iff ill the Spring 2008 issue
will conclude the series with a report by Gordon Wylie 011
Gardw Visits, Discussions, Progress and Future.
Mana Wartnick. 80b MaclI'ltyre (Sou thwestern Oregon). Gordon Wyl ie (Eugene) and Gene Cockeram (Slus law) In garden April 2007 ). Photo by John
Hammond
,...,.e Development of Spruce Reach Island Garden
..l. As and when business permi tted, O. Howard Hinsdale
much preferred ro involve himself in outdoor pursuits. He
was an avid hunter and travelled (Q CemraJ Oregon to hunt
for birds, he was a keen fisherman and regularly fished for
salmon at the mouth of the Umpqua and for sreelhead on
the Rogue. bur most of all he was a pass ionate gardener.
Nancy Lee, a resident of Reedsport, nored that the Hinsdale
fam ily travelled all over the world collecting plants for their
garden (1 0).
In the main garden, in the area that runs wesrwards
from the entrance drive, alongside ci,e ditch cilat parallels the
highway, a n umber of mature large~leaved rhododendron
species were planted in ci,e early- I940s. These are likely to
have been rhe earliest rhododendro n plantings in the garden
View aklng Circle
dn~e
to Umpqua Rive r Photo by John Hammond
JOU RNAL AMERICAN RHODODE NDRON SOCIETY 19
and included II. folconm. II. sinogmruk. II.
graruk. II. jictolacteum and II. disco"'r. Oral
rradi rion has it that mese plants originated
fro m the collection of seedlings
raised
by the Oregon rhododendron pioneer
James Barto, who had a homestead on
the High Pass Road. near Junction City.
The plants were probably amongsr those
that were sold by Barto's wife. Ruth
Lamson Barro, after his untimely dearn in
December 1940. Another mature species,
R .lacteum, was plamed doser to the
house. but thi, eventually died; thi' plant
probably originated fro m the same source.
Barto had waited fo r many years to see
hi, II. lactl'llm and II. folconm seedlings
flowe r, bur sadly he died of cancer before
they bloomed fo r the first time. Prior to
WWl I, and for a number of years after,
there was probably no other source for
acquiring large specimens of large-leaved
rhododendron species on the West Coast.
In the late- 1940, Evangeline N.
H insdale, H oward's mQ[her, went to live
in the Pordand area and this presented
Howard with the opportunity to remodel
Spruce Reach Island house and (0
landscape [he gardens. It appears that the
development of the house commenced in
1947 whilst Howard was still the d riving
force in Gardiner Lumber Company
and he used his "crews" ro construct the
soU(h wing, expand the east wing, then
reconstruct and expand the west wing.
This project also incl uded raising the house
to avoid flood ing. which involved the
fell ing of ,he crab-apple trees and jacking
the entire original structure up on to new
foundatio n posts. Howard had the dredge
Sandpiper positioned in the river near the
island and pwuped up tons of sand and
gravel to build up the elevation of the whole
of the eastern end of the main property.
The work on the house took a number of
years to complete and this suggests that
his approach reRects the way in which
the garden was later developed. Also in
1947 he was instrumental in moving the
First National Bank of Gardiner to a new
site at Reedsport where ir opened as the
Umpqua National Bank with Howard as
its president.
20 WINTER 2008
In 1951 Howard rurned his artention
to laying Out and planting the garden ,
which totalled eight acres around the
main house and extended from Highway
#38 to the riverbank. This work was very
carefull y orchesrrated. All the elements
were brought together to create a garden
in the sryle of a small traditional English
country house and irs woodland gardens,
as they would have been in the period
between the early- 1900s and the on-set
of WWII . The trees planted some years
earlier at the western edge of the property
provided shelter from the wind and other
plantings formed an overhead canopy to
produce a dappled effect of sun and shade.
The entrance drive area, from the bridge at
the highway to the from of the house, was
laid OU( to contain the appropriate level of
formaliry in regard to the plantings in the
"island" beds, and also in the borders.
To the east and wesr of the main d rive
the woodland gardens were laid-out in the
traditional manner, whilst to the rear of the
house were other groupings of flowering
shrubs and long stretches of lawn runn ing
along the banks of the Umpqua. Most
gardens of this type contain a water feature
in the fo rm of an o rnamental lake, ponds
or a reRective canal and Spruce Reach
Island was to be no exception. A canal
runs inland from the river to the highway,
sometimes referred to as the Hinsdale
Slough. and this cuts off the eastern
segment of garden, around twO acres in
extent, fro m the main garden. O riginally
the eastern segment was connected to
the main garden by a bridge, constructed
by Howard, composed of twO massive
red cedar logs that spanned the canal ,
with planks laid across the logs to fo rm
a roadway for vehicles and maintenance.
This canal was utilised by Howard to good
effect and the plantings on the slo ping east
bank were well positioned in longirudi nal
rows so their Rowers would reRect in
the water when viewed from the main
garden .
Galen Baxter. now in his eighties and a
Eugene Chaprer member of the American
Rhododendron Society (ARS). worked at
the Long-Bell Mill on weekdays for about
34 years an d, from around 1952, worked
additional shifts at weekends for fou r
or five years at the Spruce Reach Island
property where he helped to layout the
garden and plant H oward's ·'acquisitions."
Severa1 areas in the western part of the
garden were low-lying and swampy,
so once again Howard had the dredge
Sandpiper positioned in the river and used
this ro pump up an infill of gravel and sand
to raise the level of (he garden in some of
these marshy areas. Terrace walkways were
constructed throughout th is parr of the
garden and these fo rmed an intricate set of
pathways between the plantings. Howard
personally directed the landscaping
operations that commenced in 195 1.
including instructing as to how the plants
were ro be handled and plamed. Detailed
preparations were made fo r planting each
specimen in a location chosen by H oward;
the soil W:lS excavated and layers of gravel
and sand were used to create drainage and
to construct a suitably raised bed fo r each
plant.
There was an average of four staff that
worked o n laying our the garden; Galen
remembers the work was hard bur H oward
treated him well and paid him the same
overtime rates as the rest of the crew. But,
where d id the plants come from?
In recent years (he 1\1 media would
lead you to believe that "instant" gardens,
landscaping and makeovers are someth ing
new and trendy. Bur little is new in
horticulture; indeed, O . Howard Hi nsdale
may well have been a leader in the field! O n
fi rst sight little appears to be known about
his horticultura1 and forestry background,
bur it is clear that he was knowledgeable
about trees and plants and he em ployed
some most unusual techniques to acquire
specimens to plant in his new garden .
Galen recalls that in the early-1950s
Howard toured the more affl uent areas of
Portland, Oregon, searching for mature
specimens of rhododendrons. camellias
and magnolias in private gardens. When
H oward found a plant he wanted he would
knock on the from door of the house and
offer the owner a figure in cash that was
djfficul t ro refuse. Money was no object
Spruce Reach Island : House & Garden
River
Umpqua
Rhodookndron Plantlng1
""",
Rhododendrons Azaleas
60· 70
60_70
1~·200
,..
"
JQ.'"
)0· 40
.
"
"
•
"""
."
""
""
'""
TOIII
3S
.4()
•
,
,
"·SO
1S·100
~
'",
,,
"
"
JQ
3S-40
SO·"
JO
488· S88
l06·1Sl
Rhododendron PI.nelnes
,
,
,
'
PI~n b~'led
on atrbl phOIOlraph takt n r.l<nS
Pl lnli n&, art .. dtKrlbtd In Reporl made by
Ho.... rd A. Jdfriel dl ted Marth. 24, 1975
j ."" ... """""_N~ .
to
Howard in his quest and it is said (hat
when he happened to locate a particularly
good, large specimen he would offer in
excess of $1000.00, an enormous sum of
money in mose days. Wi th negotiations
com pleted Howard would then arrange
for his crew to "lift" the plant, secure it on
a large Aatbed truck and transport it (0 the
Spruce Reach Island garden. On arrival
at the garden rhe difficulties of getting a
large Ratbed tfllck inca position, to gain
access over the narrow bridge and along
[he driveway rowards [he house, caused
chaos and major delays on Highway #38.
In 1954 Howard purchased fifteen trees,
mainly Himalayan cedars all 30 to 40
feet in height and almost as wide, from
L'1mberr Gardens in Pordand (23). A.B.
L'lffibert was a specialist nurseryman who
raised shrubs and trees, but as he probably
did not expect to have a market for older
trees this [Urned out (0 be the biggest tree-
moving job in his experience. 1he largest
specimen, 25,000 pounds of Himalayan
cedar, incl uding roots and protective sod,
was val ued at $750.00, and a cre\'I of five
spent four days diggi ng the massive rootball from the garden. A specialist crane
was required to lower the 42.5-foot tree,
with a base circumference of 54 inches,
to the bed of a large freight truck for the
journey to Spruce Reach Island; three
slighdy smaller trees were d ispatched on
separate trucks, three hours apart, on the
same day. Lifting and positioning the trees
by crane on arrival at the garden must
have been a tricky operation amidst the
other plantings. Eleven other loads were to
follow by truck over the next few days and
the major delays ro traffic ar the emrance
to Spruce Reach Island must have been a
(lIking point in the local communif)'.
So, the alternative option was for the
crew to lift- the plant, or tree, and transport
2.t>i,
it to a dock on the W illamette Ri ver
where it wOlJd be loaded on to one of the
U.R.N .Co.'s barges and shipped with other
acquisitions (0 Reedsport. 11le plants were
taken directly to the garden by barge where
they were off-loaded by a barge-mounted
crane, great care being taken to ensure the
crane-slings did not damage the bark of
the trunks during lifting operations. At
least one specimen was so large that it rook
a whole barge (0 secure and move it and
(wo cranes were used for lifting sllch an
enormous specimen to prevent damaging
the plant.
Two plants in the garden are very old,
R. 'Cymh ia' and R fortunei, and these
pre-date the raising of rhododendrons in
Oregon; Howard's records give their age
as dating back to around 1890 to 1895.
Howard sourced his large mature plants
from the Portland area and the earliest
rhododendrons that are known of in
JOURN AL AMERICAN RHODODENDRON SOCIETY 21
rrom
View
house 81118 acrOSi slough sI>ow1og rhododeodrons . eSPeC'<lHy <Iu~­
trat<og rllflec1f'1 11 Wiltlll "",nlKlnlld ;n ta~t Photo by John Hammond
22 WI NTER 2008
Portland was a special shipmenr sem fro m England to use in a major
display at the wvis & Clark Cemennial Exposition held in Ponland
in 1905. These plants would have needed to be 10 to 15 years old to be
a suirable size fo r the display, so the dates given on the record cards do
march. After the Exposition had finished some of rIle plantS were used
to create a roadside display area by the Portland Parks departmem;
others fell inro rhe hands ofi nAuemial private indi viduals. At rhis stage
some of the foregoin g requires furth er verification, if that is practicable;
however, there is little doub( thaI Spruce Reach conrai ns (wo of the
first rhododendrons (0 be introduced into Oregon.
There are many other old rhododendrons in the garden that
are grafted on to R. pOllticum rootstocks and, as this was nm a
methodology pracriced commercially by the early nurserymen in (he
Pacific Northwes(, it is likely rhal these were also originally imporred
from England. And , there are also a number of old camellias and
magnolias (ha( await identification.
There is no doubt that Howard had the abiliry ro successfully
extract, lin-, transport, off-load and ph nr large specimens in preprepared locations in his newly landscaped garden. This rype of work
is by no means straightforward , particularly in an er.1 when specialized
equipmenr was not available, and how he had acquired this expertise is
something of a mysrery. Equally fascinating is how and where Howard
acquired the knowledge to be able ro creare a landscape in the style
of an Engl ish woodland garden. The same arrention to detail and
care was reRected in the planrings thar were laid-ollt in the formal
and woodland areas of the garden. An E n glish~sty l e garden would be
expected ro contai n plantS thar could be found in such a garden, and
this is exactly what Spruce Reach Island contains, some arranged in
groupings ranging frolll 3 ro 6 for "show." These include hybrids raised
by Gill, Lowinsky, Mangles, Slowcock, Smith, Standish & Noble, and
Waterer, all key rhododendron personalities from the late- 19,h and
early_20 th centuries.
In the authors' experience, it is unusual to fi nd vcryold specimens
of some of these early British hybrids in Oregon and we suspect
that some plants may have been quite rare in the era d13{ the garden
was developed. Similar comments could apply to the camellias and
magnolias, some of which are very old plants and more research work
is needed ro unravel their origins. And , as happened in England , the
gardens at Spruce Reach Island have been overlaid wieh a mnge of the
better hybrids that were raised in the intet~war years, i.e., 1920s and
1930s, some of which did nOt lx.'Come available in (he trade until after
\Xf\XIl 1. These include collections of hybrids raised by Abercotl\vay,
C rosfield, Loder, Rmhschild , Stevenson, Swaythling and \,(/illiams,
as well as (he usual hybrids raised by Durch breeders for the English
marker. These hybrids have Ix.-en further en hanced by the acquisi lion
of good form s of species rhododendrons and so me of these were
probably raised from seed by Oregon's early rhododendron pioneers.
By (he early- 1950s Howard had become friendly with John
Hen nyofB rooks, O regon, fi rst presidenr of the ARS, and they became
partners in [he establishment of a wine distribution business, said to be
the first to suppOrt Oregon's Aedgling wineries. John Henny and his
brother Rudolph were fa nners and bodl had rhododendron nurseries
at Brooks. near Salem, and it is probable
that the brothers provided Howard wi th
the cultural advice. It is aJso likely that they
provided Howard with location details
when mature plants bec.1.me available.
So metime in the mid- 1950s Howard
became a member of the Portland Chapter
ARS. He is listed in theannuaJ membership
roster for the years 1962, 1963 & 1965,
bur copies of rosters for the earl ier years of
the chapter are proving d ifficuh to loc.1te.
Somehow, he was able to acquire one of
the ori ginal seedlings of R. 'Golden West',
a Del James cross of c.1950 [hat was much
sought after at the time on accou m of its
Dresden yellow Aowers that had a smaJl
red blotch. It would nor be unreasonable
to conclude that Howard and Del became
friends. At different times, John Henny
and Del James had both travelled to
England to visit gardens and meet with
the key rhododend ron enthusiasts of rh e
day. Was Howard inspired to do likewise?
Around 1953 Howard acquired
the complete inventory of a nursery in
the Portland area, including a number
of large specimens that were probably
stock and display plants. Despi te various
enquiries,
including correspon dence
wim me Portl and C hapter ARS, this
nursery remai ns un identified. Over 1000
planrs, mainly rhododend ron species
and hybrids, were transpo rted by truck
back to the garden and this amounted to
the better part of 100 loads in total. So,
Howard had more than JUSt a passing
imerest in rhododendrons and companion
plants and is a serio LIS conrender for the
ririe o f the originaJ "instant gardener"
in the Pacific No rthwest. GaJen Baxter
summarised Howard's landscapi ng work
in me follow ing terms (6):
. . .On the e:tSt side of the emrance drive,
after crossing the bridge over the ditch
alongside the highway, there were a few
large rhododendrons piaJUt."!1 close to
the highway, thcn around 40 smallcrleaved alpine rypes ran along the side of
the d rive up to lhe house. Between the
rhodod.endrons and the west bank of rhe
canal was a large iris garden . As rhe drive
approached the hOllse it segregated to
form a large remTll circle and in lhe middle
were two beds of evergreen azaleas and
alpine type rhododendrons. On elevated
areas of ground in the main garden, to rhe
west of the entrance drive, ber-veen the
higll\VJ.y and the riverbank, around 250
old-English, Dutch and German hybrids
were planted interspcrstxi wirh magnolia
species, ornamental maples and dove u ccs.
AJong the river bank behind the house
was a collection of arollnd 20 specimen
camellias. Over the 'ceda r bridge', in the
two acres of garden ro the east of the
camll, around 160 rhododendrons wcre
planted four rows deep on the sloping
bank, in parallel lines to rhe canal , with
walkways berween each row. These wcre
mainly old English, a few Dutch and
the occasional German hybrids and
their GHefiti lX)sitioning in 'theatre row'
formar enabled the rcAections of theif
Aowers in the c.1nal to be seen from the
house and the main garden. A number of
trees behind the rhododendrons provided
some shelter for these plandngs.
To cater fo r the irrigario n of
the plantings Howard organ ised the
construction of a concrete tank high up
o n a ridge of Dean Mountain, around
hal f a mile ro the south of the property. A
water main was piped downhill, across the
low- lying Aatlands and under Highway
#38 to serve a net'l'lOrk of high-level
sprinklers in the garden. Some of these
sprin kJers are still extant. A perenniaJ ropic
amongst rhododendron enthusiasts is the
various approaches they lise ro produce
plant labels that have a lo ng life. Howard
devised an WlUSUaJ method for taggi ng his
plants; he placed the planr info rmati on in
a very small glass botde, seaJed it with a
cork and hung ir fro m the branch of the
planr or tree. Some of these bottles and
labels remai n to this dare.
In the spring of 1955 Howard and
Jane HinsdaJe arranged the fi rst annua1
open day of their garden in support of
Sr. Mary's Episcopal C hurch of Gard iner.
The open days were well supported by ci,e
local communi ty and that held o n Su nday,
April 27'h , 1958, was fea tured, along with
severaJ photographs, in the Roseburg NewsReview (22):
... One or [he largest events [0 take
place ill Douglas Counry was enjoyed
by scveral hundreds Sunday afternoon,
when Mr. And Mrs. Hinsdale opened
their beautifi.d five-acre garden and homc
on the Umpqua Rivcr near Reedsport as
a benefit afF.tir for St. Mary's C hurch of
Gardiner.
... Members of Sr. Mary's Guild acted
as hostesses for the occasion . This was
the fOLlrth annual garden lOur and tea
sponsored by the Guild at the Hinsdale
garden and to date it was the largest.
Even die weather co-operare<1 and
those enjoying the afternoon roamt.xi
the many paths lined with gorgcous
rhododendrons and ;v..1Jeas in a setting
of evergreen trccs. Many other very fi ne
shrubs including camellias are include<1
in the garden plantings, however the
rhododendrons (with more than 100
species in the collection) and azaleas
predominate.
.. . Nor only residents from all p:lrr5
of Oregon were on hand ('Q enjoy the
occasion, but a number or out-of-sldte
residents seeing the magnificent color
of the garden from the highway stopped
and jOint."!1 the tour. Those making the
rour found it to be even more heauriful
than thL)' had imagined possible and
those unable 10 make ir this year are
already making plans to attend the fifth
garden rour and te:t to be held in 1959.
Storms, Fires, Aoods, Mergers and
Shut-downs: The Tumultuous '60s on
me Oregon Coas'
1he late- I 950s and
I 960s were
tumultuous years for the O regon Coasr.
Long-Bell Lumber Company thoroughly
modernised their Gardiner mill , which
was brought into operation in 195 1 (I 7).
ll1e fo llowing year a 3.8-mile branch line
was constructed from [he Southern Pacifi c
Railroad (S.P.R.) at Ga rdin er Ju nction to
the mill. Two lo ng trestle bridges were
bui lt (Q enable the new al ignmenr to span a
section ofthe Umpqua and run across Bolen
[sland . The Long-Bell logging operations
in rhe Northwest were connected to the
Southern Pacific Rai lroad via a num ber of
spurs and these were collected1y named the
Longview, Portland & Northern Rai lroad
(L.P.&N.R.), incorporated in 1922. From
irs Lo ngview headquarters [he LI~ & N. R.
controll ed four geographi cally segreg>lted
sho rr-lines that served Long- Bell's various
logging operations and mills in the
Northwesr. A nerwork of 72 miles of track
incl uded th e 3 .8 miles from Gardin er to
JOURNAL AMERICAN RHODODENDRON SOCIETY 23
its S .I~ R. connection at Ga rdiner Junction.
Lo ng-Bell merged its enri re Washington
and Oregon operations wi th International
Paper Co. in 1956; unfortun arely. this was
to be a "cU m before the storm" scenario
for the Ga rdiner mi ll ( 17).
On October 12'" 1962, rhe "Big
Blow," known locally as the "Columbus
Day Storm ," c..1.lIsed major damage
throllghour rh e area. Frieda, a typhoo n,
had irs beginnings in the South China Seas,
swepr across the central Pacific Ocean , the
main body of the 500-mile diamerer srorm
strcaking eastwards towards Californ ia and
then veeri ng northwesr to hit th e Oregon
Coasr in the late-afternoon with the
ferocity of a C1tegOry IV hurric..1.ne. One
set of recording equipment broke when the
winds exceeded 140m ph and other records
suggest the windstorm re::lChed 160mph.
Damage esrimared ar $ 170-200 million
occurred in O regon as the typhoon cur a
swarh, like a rornado. through the coasral
commun ities then headed inland ro the
Willamerte Valley ( 18). Mature Douglas
fir and Wesrern red cedar were snappedofF near the base and others uprooted
whi lst da mage to buildi ngs and services
was colossal. Damage on Spruce Reach
Island was overshadowed by the impact to
Reedsport itself. Bur worse was to come.
In 1964 d,ere was a " IOO-Year" Aood
that badly affected the Umpqua River and
its estuary. In Reedsport itself the waters
were 3 feet deep in th e posr office and
rhe surrounding area was badly Rooded.
includi ng Spruce Reach Island. People
reminisce about the legenda ry 100-Yea r
sronns, and others conrend thar such
events are nor "tied" ro a particular cycle;
however, given the devastation caused by
lhe 186 1 Roods there is a grain of truth in
the story.
Despite the size of his fortune and
indust rial interests, the "O xbow Fire"
of 1966 desrl"Oyed rhe majority of O.
Howard Hinsdale's empi re. 111is fo resr
fi re, one of rhe largest ro occur in Orego n.
started on August 20'h in an area of fo resr
near Oxbow Ridge, west of Cortage
Grove. and burned app roximately 42,274
acres, incl udi ng 24,359 acres managed
24 WINTER 2008
by the B.L.M. , 17,60 I acres owned by
Inrernarional Paper Co. and 9 15 acres
of priva te land. In ph),sical terms the
fire ex tended over a massive area along
the Smi th Ri ver to O xbow Ridge, south
almosr to the Umpqua Ri ver and north
towa rds Mapleto n fro m where the hre
could clearly be seen (1 3).
As well as opera ting marine equipIllent, tugs and barges the U. R. .Co.
carried OUf road construcdon COlUracts
using marerials ex tracted by the sand
and gravel plant. In a lengrhy and heavily
contested seq uence of civil court actions,
rhe company was judged to be responsible
for the State Forester's COStS of fi glu ing
the fi re and the subseq uent clean-up
operations to protect agai nst re-burn and
insect infestation possibili ti es. ' ·he ca use
of the fi re was determined (Q be a Gul ry
spark arrester on a U. R.N.Co. road roller
wo rki ng on a federal comract (0 resllrf.1ce
a foresr road. 11lc roller had been operated
at a ri me arrer notice had been given that
the usc of power-driven machinery in
the woods was un lawful due to previous
notice having been given of severe fire
condi tio ns. Ar a location near where the
roller was opera ting, several fires broke our
which allegedl), originated the Oxbow Fi re
(14).
Salvage loggi ng of merchanta ble
ci mber in the B. L.M. Disrricts of Coos
Bay, Roseburg and Eugene resul ted in
82 timber sales contracts, represenring
5 10 million board feet, purchased by 20
separare timber companies (15). As a result
of (he fi nancial impact of rhe court acrions
most ofO. Howard Hinsdale's operarions
began to be put up for 5..11e or closed down
and, un fortun arely. (he local comm uni ries
became C:1sualties of th e fire, as to some
extent did Spruce Reach Island house
and garden. In August 1969 Howa rd sold
the U. R.N. Co. ro the Bohemia Lu mber
Company of Eugene, becoming a vicepresidenr of Bohemia as part of the deaJ ,
and moved home to Portland.
Accord ing to local tradition Howa rd
had marriage problems aroun d the time
of rhe Ox bow Fire and he and his wife
separated. He subseq uently married
Elizabe(h Fields, (he widow of th e
owner of Fields Chevolet, a large aura
dealership in Porrland. The), had a house
and property on S.W. Riverwood Road,
Lake O swego, Pordand, where they laid
our a new ga rden looking our over rhe
\Villamerre River and th ey took an interest
in the Portland Ga rden Club (2 1). Jane
HinsdaJe, Howa rd's first wife, continued
to live at the Spruce Reach property for a
couple of years after the separation.
Howard had been [he president of
[he Umpqua Narional Bank of Reedsport
since dle day it opened for business, and
in May 1970, it merged with rhe O regon
Bank. with Howard serving on the board
of directors of rhe merged company. After
the O xbow Fi re Howard had no further
lise for the property on the ban ks of rhe
Um pqua and , wirh [he passing ),ears, rhe
gardens on Spruce Reach Island beca me
wild and overgrown. 111e ·tim ber housc
gradually deteriorated unril ir reached
a stage where ir would have been very
expensive to restore as i[ was no longer to
code and was in poor repair.
Oscar Howard Hinsdale, Sr.. passed
away in the Portland area all Februa ry 3,J,
1987 (19), and his wife Eliz.1berh Fields
Hinsdale in herite<:l [he Spruce Reach
Island property (20). Howard 's son, Oscar
Howard Hi nsdale,Jr.•subseq uemlybecame
owner of rhe property. and in conversarion
wid, Bert)' Spady of Salem, he explai ned
that as he 11 0 longer used r.he properry as
a home he sold it ro dl e B.L.M . in 1994.
He now li ves in Salem, Oregon, where
he manages a wine distribution business,
probably dari ng back to the company serlip b)' his f " her and John Helmy.
Resto ration Proposals
In 1998 Na ncy Lee, a long-rime rcsidenr
of [he Rt'Cdsport area, nOted in an email to
Betry Spady that th e local residents were
havi ng a barde wi th [he B.L.M . over the
proposed destruction of the old Hinsdale
residence and beautiful botanic gardens
(10):
I am in the ba ttle wit h the Bureau
or
land M anagement ro save a historic
landma rk. t he H insdale house. 4 miles
(' lSt of Reedsport, whereby the BLM is
proposing 10 tear il down ..
We haV(' formed a group, "Friends
of Spruce Reach Island ... and [ guess
I :un the aC[ing leader. .. We had an
o pen house weekend Mar 21/22 ..
over 650 people lOured th is house this
last wt.'Ckend ... ! had worked at clea ning
the hOllse fo r weeks when I had to call
upon my relatives for hel p .. ."Illey ca rne
to my rescue 10 make this open hOllse
successfUl. .. But I couldn't get enough
info to them in time to help with the
guided tours .. . One other lady helped
10 do a couple (Ours & I did [he rest ... 1
tourtxl. 350 people rhru the house in 5
hrs on Sunday ... non stop .. . no lunch ...
no sitting down ... no personal visiting
for more than a minute with anyone ...
(except Saturday I gO( 10 'visil' wi th
State Senawr Tamo for 30 min or so .. . )
It is only because of my f.·un ily's eftorts
to help me & support me when 1 was
in "real need" were we able co St.'C this
successful project happen ... Many other
friends Cdm e to my rescue tOO as the Mar
21 date \vas upon LIS••
The public has uruil May 31 , '98
10 send their wrinen commCIHS to BLM
regarding the demolition of the housc.
Townspeople are up in arms o\'('r the
HLM 's proposal. .. & now I hope they
are MORE so up in arms after seeing
how nice the hOllse looked ...
Now people are wan tinga 2nd open
house o ust' they didn't b'Cl to corne lasl
weekend .. . maybe me "Friends" group
will have another open housc organized
This has led to the position whereby the
B.L.M . now considers that the garden is
potentially eligible for inclusion on the
National Register of Historic Places. We
would particularly wish to thank, firstly,
Bob Golden, Umpqua Park Ranger, who
has facilitated our access to Spruce Reach
Island and has taken forward the remedial
maintenance wo rk in accordance with
our recommendations; secondly, Jenni e
Sperling, botanist, who has recen tly
recorded and tagged all the plantings in
the garden; and thirdly, Dr. Steve Samuels,
Cultural Resource Special ist, who is
mapping the plantings and overseeing
the B.L.M .'s management as a cultural
landscape. The authors are most gratefid
to Galen Baxter, a member of the ARS
Eugene Chapter, whose memories of
helping lay-out the Spruce Reach Island
garden over 50 years ago, together with his
help with plant identification at the garden
itself. have made a signi.hcanr contribu tion
to the project. We are also gratefid to
Jeffrey Cheyne of the ARS Tualatin Valley
Chapter who has undertaken research
on our behalf in Portland to locate legal
documents co nnected with
the O xbow
(10).
Fire and the U.R.N.Co. , and has also
perused the Oregon Death Index records
to clarify details relating to the Hinsdale
family.
Subsequently the B.L.M. prepared
References
a number of documents including an
Evaluation Report (3), Cost Estimates,
Summary of Amendment Actions and
two Dean C reek Plan Amendments.
No significant remedial work was taken
forward on Spruce Reach Island as a result
of these docmnems; however rhe house
was not torn down.
Acknowledgements
This project would never have gor starred
without the support of the B.L.M . and
[he authors are extremely gratefUl to
M. Elaine R.1per, Umpq ua Field Office
Manager, and her staff at the Coos Bay
District Office, who have been most
helpfid and courteous in enabling us to
take this project forward in a practical way.
I . History of ,be Pllcific Non!JwffI, Ol"('goll
lind W'mhingtol1, North Pacific History Co. 1889.
Volume I.
2. Bryce, G. 1900. tlx Rmltlrkllb/" History
of the Hudwll &y Company. Sampson, Low.
Marston .
3. Beckham, Stephen Dow. 1996. SpniCC
Rea ch Island: Historical Assessment of the O.
Howard Hinsdale House, Douglas Counry.
Oregon. A Report submitted to the Bureau of L1.nd
Management , Coos Bay Distria. North Bend ,
Oregon.
4. Anonymous. 2004. 2004 Elliort State
Forest Management Plan. C hapter One. State of
Oregon, Mamgcmenl ofSratc Forests.
5. Anonymous. 187 1. Another Pioneer Gone
(Obituary of Sylvestcr D. Hinsdale) . Rosf'burg
I:.ilSigu, Rosebu rg, Oregon. January 7, 187 1.
6. Baxter, Galen. 2005. Nores of meetings in
Eugene, O R, with the authors to discuss O. Howard
Hinsdale and his garden. May 3 & September 7,
2005.
7. Bu,kh,rrl" D.C. Jesse. 1994. Backwoods
Rtli/roflds. IJmllch/ine! flnd Short/illt'S of \t/t'Sfmt
Oregon. \'(/:lShi nglOn Scate University Press, Pullman ,
WA.
8. Hammond , Joh n M. 2004. Mr. Magor
:Ind the North American triangle : :In his[oric.'ll
perspective.Joli/: Amn: Rhod Soc. 58: 135- 148.
9. L"lbbe, John T. & Goe, Vernon. 196 1.
Rtti/ronds in rbl' Wloodr. Howell-North , Berkeley.
CA.
10. Lee, N,"cy & Sp,dy, Bmy. 1998. EfTa"
save Hinsdale property in Reedsport, Ort'b'On.
A.II.S., 11 6-A. 11'",., Issues 2 & 3, 1998.
II. Anonymous. 1914. Local News. Rost'bllrg
Review, Roseburg, Oregon. March 24, 19 14.
12. Anonymous. 19 14. Gardi ner to havc a
bank Pon Umpqull Collri", Reedsport, Oregon.
10
OClObc, 17, 1914.
13. Oregon Stale Arch ives. 2005. Oxbow Fire
Stale Records 1966- 1970. Department of Fo restry
Rt.'Cords G uide, Orego n Secretary ofSt:lte.
14. Ort"'gon State Court Decision. 1970. 258
Or. I 0; Smte Forester v. Umpqua River Navig:u ion
Co. Reversed and remanded December 23, 1970.
15. Shepherd , Ed. 2004. Restoring ForestS
aft"er C1rastrophic EventS. Statement by The Bureau
of Land Management , Washington. DC. July 15,
2004.
16. Perkins, Nelson S. 1972. Vancouver
Plywood Company: Monograph No.12. Plywood
Pioneers Association, Tacoma, Washington.
17. C lark, Ha.rrison. 1967. Weed and
Long-Bell : Monograph No.3. Plywood Pioneers
Association, l acoma , Washington.
18. Anonymous. 2006. Natural H:l7.ards
Mitigation Plan. \'(findstorms C hapter. State of
Orq;on, Emergeng' Management Plan.
19. Oregon Death Index Records, Sr:tte
Rt:.'g istmr, Department of HUlllan Serviccs, Sr.ue of
On:.."gOIl, Port land.
20. Department of Probate, Ci rcuit Coun of
the Stale of O rego n for the Cou nty ofMulrnornah ,
Portland.
2 1. Anonymous. 1987. Oscar H. Hinsdale
dies. Oregoninn. l>onland, Oregon. Ft'bmary 4,
1987.
22. Anonymous. 1958. Hinsdale Gardens
Enjoy<."Ci By Many Hundreds Sunday. ROS('''lIrg
N~llIS-Revit'lv, Roseburg, Oregon. May 3nl , 1958.
23. Anonymous. 1954. Giant Cedar -rfllcked
to Coast Home. 11x Orrgonitlll, Ponhnd , Oregon.
August 5"' . 1954.
john Hammond, a member of
the Scottish Chapter, has contributed
severnl articles to the journal on garden
history, including "Mr. Magor and the
North AmericaN Triangle: An Historical
Perspective, " in the Winter 2004 issue.
Cordon Wylie, a member ofthe Eugene
Chapter, is a past pm ident ofthe ARS.
JOURNAL AM ERICAN RHODODENDRON SOCIETY 25